Julia Ionova at Broome Community
College

In December
2006 Julia Ionova, a second-year student of the World
Economy Department of the Omsk State University School of International
Business, received the BCC Foundation’s Norm Herbert Scholarship.This scholarship covered all education and
living expenses for Julia’s studies at BCC during the Spring
2007 academic semester.

Julia has
agreed to share her experiences in America as she adjusts to the American style
of life and education.

January 22, 2007

Hello to
everybody!

I'm in the
USA and I like everything here! Now I'm getting used to American language
coming from all the directions, to American time, and to American food that is
becoming dangerous for my figure.

The
funniest thing is that I've managed to give an interview to the one of their TV
channels, and they show me in the news! Now everybody in New York knows about
Omsk State University and the school of international business :-).

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A photo of me in the BCC campus. Actually, there are so many buildings in BCC that the first few days I couldn't find anything without a map!

My classes
in Broome Community College began on Tuesday. I am taking 8 different classes
(20 credits). The majority of them are business ones: Human Resource
Management, Operations Management, Investments, Organizational Behavior,
Business Law, and Public Relations. I also have some physical education courses
such as Personal Fitness and Tennis. I don't know why, but everybody becomes
very surprised, when I say I have 20 credits. They believe this is too many!
However, I'm thinking about taking one more class.

I'm in Anne Blakeless' office. I must say, Anne is a very nice lady. She always helps me and the other Russian students at BCC; and it doesn't matter what we are asking her for and what is she doing at that time

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The way
classes are conducted in BCC is very different from that we have in Russia. The
most important thing for instructors is to make students understand the
material. So they focus on practice and just enjoy
telling different stories. The material seems to be easy, but there is a lot of
homework that must be done on time. For example, I must read almost 100 pages
for tomorrow. And this is only the beginning!

February 8, 2007

Hello,

Studying
styles in America are much different. We
have a lot of homework and tests, but no seminars! Actually, it's not very hard!! But, you see, I have too many classes!! - 7
different subjects (everybody thinks I'm crazy!), so I do not really have a lot
of time to relax. However, sometimes we
do have some fun! Last Sunday we went
snowboarding - Anne Blakeslee took us there. It was great!

March 1,
2007

Hello to
Everyone!

I have been
here for more than a month, but still every day seems to bring something
new. Everything is just wonderful! As I wrote earlier, the educational system is
very different in the USA. You may miss
many classes and not do much in them, but you must past tests and quizzes. If not, you just fail.

The way
classes are conducted is very different as well. The atmosphere is less tense than in
Russia - there are fewer strict rules.

Some
classes are very easy. My favorite one
is Public Relations - I would say it is indecently easy! We do nothing but watch commercials and
listen to the instructors stories, which basically
have little to do with public relations! Of course I would love it - if I didn't have to get up at 6:00 in the
morning to get to the class!

What's
amazing for me is that nobody cheats. They never even try to do this, even when the instructor is gone. In studying, everyone is for
themselves - nobody even thinks about copying other peoples' homework or asking
about other peoples' grades. It's very
different from what we have in Russia.

What is
also surprising for me in the USA is that everyone drives slowly and
carefully! After Russian driving
experience all this seems very boring to me! Passing, using the horn,
and aggressive driving are very rare here. And everyone follows the rules.

Besides
studies, of course, I have a lot of fun here. Shopping, skating and snowboarding…A few days ago we went to New York
City. What a crazy place! There are so many people, and all of them are
always in a rush. Traffic jams are
everywhere, and it is really better to walk because the subway is as crazy as
the city itself. But it is still a very
beautiful place, which is worth seeing. To be honest this crazy lifestyle for some reason is very attractive and
very different from anything I have ever seen. I have been in New York for only one day and, of course, it was not
enough. So now I’m looking forward to
going there again.

April 9, 2007

The second part of the term started a few weeks ago, so did some of my new classes. The only good thing about it is that both these classes are physical education (PED)! However, they actually have tests on physical education classes as well... But still I love the classes I am taking, especially tennis: It is gorgeous outside now, and playing on the courts is a real pleasure.

Recently I got a NY drivers permit and now I’m allowed to drive cars here! I am so happy, because I really missed driving. Actually I can do it only when an adult with a driver license is in the car with me. But as long as I do not have my car I do not mind if the actual owner of the car is with me when I'm driving! I must say everybody who gives me a car is very brave: All Americans are sure Russian drivers are the craziest drivers ever! Of course, comparing the American driving style with ours, I would say, it is true... but for some reason I'm so proud I'm a crazy Russian driver!

As the weather is getting better, we have started traveling a little bit. We went to Ithaca, which is a not very big, but beautiful town. One of the most prestigious (and expensive :-)) US universities, Cornell, is situated in Ithaca. I really loved this place.

But the most exiting thing is that I am in Florida now! It is time for a spring week in the college, so we may have some rest from studying. Two other Russian girls and I stay with Anne Blakeslee in her house in Sarasota. Though it is only our first day in Florida, I love everything here: The sun, the beach, and our vacation itself.

On the way to Sarasota we stopped in Washington, so I also had a chance to see the capital. It is one of the most beautiful cities I've ever visited. But what I especially loved about Washington is that for some reason it does not seem to be crowded or stuffy as the majority of big cities.
I must say I love vacation. Too bad that they are not long enough, ...but I try not to think about this now!